G'day, Its autumn in Australia and raining. The three of us were recovering from a late night party last week, with warnings echoing around us not to go paddle the Beecroft Peninsula because of the solid winds and surf of the previous few days. Not a promising start to a camping trip but Currarong beach looked calm enough. The Beecroft Peninsula has a mixed reputation, regarded as one of the more treacherous sections of coast by sailors in Oz but kayakers appreciate its caves, the hidden Gum Getters Cove and seal colony and the Peninsulabs history of bringing kayak trips undone! For us it became thirteen kilometres of moderate headwind, unrelenting rebound waves and focussed paddle strokes. Ibm sympathetic to the idea of living in the moment, but three hours of living so intensely at one with the waves became hypnotic and I had to snap out of it or suffer the consequences. Then came blessed relief as we sailed across Jervis Bay and headed for Murrays Beach satisfied that webd been kept honest. No sea caves for us that day. Monday was a 15 kilometre trip around Cape St George, past Steamers to Kittybs Beach. The cliffs here dive deep into the sea and are strongly reflective. We expected the best and prepared for the worst. But it was blissful as never before. So calm that Mike who had been this way many times was able to take us into inlets and dank caves sculpted and aged like the decaying cathedrals of northern England. These caves would normally have been completely cut off by surge and breakers but we played in an out of them as if they were in the most sheltered bay. And each headland we passed we prepared for the worst and it was always the best! Tuesday came and with it a 30km open crossing from Kittybs Beach to Ulladulla. We had dreamed of sailing across, the forecasts were beguiling, but on the day it was seven to twelve knots headwind with the promise of stronger to come. Seven to twelve knots doesnbt sound much but we ate and drank every hour nevertheless. The occasional tern, albatross or shark swept past us with enviable speed and Dee sang us across the sea with Irish ballads and poetry. The next 35km was effortless by comparison and took us to a hidden seal colony, a hatchery. At a very discrete distance we saw seal pups in a cave as they rested or clambered down rocks backwards like toddlers learning to negotiate stairs. That night under the stars and full moon while the tide lapped ever closer to our supper, Mike regaled us with stories of his years at sea, how he crossed Bass Strait accidentally. How the last cattle left Bass Strait and how he was afforded the rarest privilege, to watch a whale teach her new born to dive and surface, pushing the calf gently with her head. Itbs the last day. Mike has left with one last farewell lap of North Head Beach and Paul has joined us among the dolphins of Batemans Bay. The Toll Gates Island is dead ahead and the sea is glassy, so flat that Paul discovers a new cave in the island with swell that is magnified by the narrowing cave until it booms against its back wall with a whoosh of adiabatically warmed air. Ibm able to paddle twenty or thirty meters backwards through a tunnel into the heart of the Toll Gates, facing a swell that is miniscule at the cave mouth but the narrowing tunnel magnifies the waves until they rise about a meter and crash into a tiny stone beach that opens out to the sky in a hidden recess of the island. Then leaving the Toll Gates we pick our way through the reefs at the south of Batemans Bay until we come to Guerilla Bay, another beach hidden by a massive broken cliff, and this one is home. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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